Complaint volume
111 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Complaints
111 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe, grouped by component category.
111 Total complaints
5 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
3 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are unknown or other, tires, visibility/wiper. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 5 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 3 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 12 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 11,435 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, tires, visibility/wiper?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2025 Hyundai Santa Fe
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe complaints?
5 Crash
0 Fire
3 Injury
0 Fatality
4 Towed
2 Medical attention
What are the most common 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 15
TIRES 12
VISIBILITY/WIPER 9
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 7
POWER TRAIN 6
SEATS 5
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3
ENGINE 3
111 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2025 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that the windshield wiper fluid was low. The contact added additional fluid to the reservoir. After the additional fluid was added, the contact became aware that there was windshield wiper fluid on the garage floor. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the soy-based feeding tubes to the windshield wipers had been chewed on by rodents. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed there was no warranty coverage on the vehicle, and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 700. The VIN was not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | 700 |
| Jul 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | I am reporting a critical safety defect involving my brand-new 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. While driving on the freeway, the vehicle experienced a complete brake system failure, nearly causing a serious accident. My boyfriend was driving at the time, and when he tried to brake, the vehicle did not stop. He had to take immediate evasive action to avoid crashing, which put both of us — and nearby drivers — in immediate danger. The vehicle was purchased about a month ago and had never been serviced or modified. After the failure, it was towed to Hanlees Auto Mall Hyundai in Richmond, California, where the service department inspected it and confirmed the problem was caused by a missing clamp, which is a critical component of the braking system. This appears to be a manufacturing or dealership oversight. They took photos, documented the issue, and made the repair — but they also told me they cannot guarantee this won’t happen again. There were no warning lights, messages, or symptoms before the failure — the brakes simply stopped working during operation on the freeway. As of now: •The issue has been confirmed by Hanlees Hyundai in Richmond. •I have not yet received a loaner vehicle. •The car is currently in my possession, but I do not feel safe driving it. •I have been in contact with Supervisor Steve at Hyundai of Vacaville, who has offered to pick up the vehicle and provide a loaner, but that has not yet occurred. This is an extremely dangerous failure that occurred on a brand-new vehicle. I am requesting a formal investigation into this issue to determine if it’s isolated or part of a broader manufacturing defect with the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. A missing brake component that results in total failure at freeway speeds is a life-threatening safety hazard and should be taken seriously by the manufacturer and federal safety officials. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN | I have had issues with my dual-clutch transmission slipping gears in multiple ways while driving; most commonly while in drive and going downhill the tachometer will aggressively rev when just idling and without pressing the accelerator. Also, when trying to reverse out of a parking space on an incline or decline multiple times I have rolled forward as if in neutral and receiving no power to back the vehicle in reverse. Previously owned a 2023 sonata with similar transmission issues and blew a cylinder on the highway within a year of ownership(engine knocked out while driving about 65 and just lost power and had to pull over on side of highway. Went to dealership yesterday for regular maintenance and told them about transmission issues. They checked vehicle for any tcu updates and there were none. Test drove it and said it was driving normal. I know it’s not driving normally/safely. What can I do? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and taking her eyes off the road ahead, there was a warning chime and a red warning light illuminated, advising the driver to "Consider taking a Break". The contact stated that the safety feature is the Driver Monitoring: Camera/Sensor and the safety feature was activating while turning her head or moving her eyes from looking ahead. The contact stated that the chime was loud and was distracting while driving. The contact stated that the failure was almost constant. The contact called a local dealer and was advised that the system could not be deactivated. The dealer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the issue. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 700. | Crash: No Fire: No | 700 |
| Apr 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | When approaching red light at low speed, about 3mph, the engine cut off in traffic, "apply brakes" or similar, started strobbing across the screen and then it said to put in park. The pedals were not working for brakes. Car came to a stop and put it in park and started it again. The Sante Fe has 3150 miles on it. No other issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | Vehicle fails to appropriately recognize when it is put in Park. The dash shows a "P" indicating the vehicle is in park, but emits a continuous beeping sound with a message on the dash that reads, "Auto Stop is Off. Shift to P or N and start engine manually." However, when pressing "P" as it states I must do, it then reads, "Gear already selected," before returning to the previous message. This is all while a "P" is illuminated and beeping is continuous. Throughout this time, if the brake is released, the car begins driving forward as though it is in Drive, not Park. I have 3 separate videos of this happening.To answer the above questions: The vehicle has repeatedly been inspected by a Hyundai dealership and each time I am told the issue cannot be replicated. I am happy to have it inspected again. It most certainly puts my safety and others at risk as it continues driving after I have engaged park. No police or insurance representatives have yet inspected it. No others warnings or messages appear before it occurs, only during. The issue first started just before 5k miles on the car and has since occurred at least 5 more times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I am unable to use speed control while wearing sunglasses due to the driver attention monitoring. It would be dangerous to drive without sunglasses. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The sensor always goes off stating my eyes aren't on the road to the point it trys to stop the vehicle in traffic. This prevents me from being able to use cruise control because the sensor is causing issues by not detecting my eyes | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Hyundai Bluelink system in my car, which interfaces with interfaces with almost all other computer-controlled systems on the car and through which software updates can be received and installed fails to work on an intermittent basis and the onboard system gives no warning when the Bluelink system has an outage or other malfunction. Large numbers of Hyundai vehicles suffered Bluelink outages beginning in early February 2025 so that system such as Collision-avoidance, emergency braking functions, and "SOS" crash notifications and owner assistance required functions cannot be relied upon. Some owners were notified by an email that their vehicles "may" have a problem and/or "might" need to have a Technical Service Bullitin done by a dealership. No distribution by model, year, or VIN and no mention of the problem as an "outstanding recall or campaign" on the MyHyundai website so that owners might be able to find out about this problem. I have tried to get answers on what the problem was, asked why the first repair campaign done on my car failed to work, why the system suddenly conncected on its own (no notice, no owner intervention to connect), and why did the system then fail again less than 40 days later. Hyundai corporate (case number [XXX]) and Hyundai Bluelink (case number [XXX]) have make promises, broken promises and fail to even provide answers and spend most of their time blaming each other. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The forward attention warning (FAW) on the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe calligraphy can not be deactivated. Correction, it can be turned off for normal driving. For instance, driving around the city or not using smart cruise control. As soon as you turn on the smart cruise control it's reactivated and can't be turned off. The FAW does not work when using prescription sunglasses / non prescription sunglasses or if the sun is hitting the inside of the cabin a certain way. The FAW constantly flashes warnings and beeps at you even though you are looking forward and keeping your eyes on the road. If you look far down the road you shift your eyes up some, and the system beeps and flashes warnings to keep your eyes on the road. On a recent 230 miles trip I did not wear my prescription sunglasses / non prescription sunglasses and the FAW system went off at least 50 plus times and I had my eyes on the road at all times. Very distracting, I then had to take my eyes off the road to see why it was beeping and telling me to keep my eyes on the road. The FAW system actually makes for a stressful and distracting drive. At this time the FAW is useless. I took the vehicle to the dealer and the FAW is not a system that can be turned off. Hyundai needs to allow the dealers to be able and deactivate the system. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Hyundai Distracted Driver feature is FAULTY and VERY hazardous! If someone puts on sunglasses to drive SAFELY, the vehicle says you ARE distracted; and cuts the cruise control and starts braking on its own. VERY BAD!!! The vehicle is almost undrivable. Many others are having their dealerships buy their Hyundai Santa Fes back because they are nearly undrivable and are a general US roadway hazard, due to the way the faulty "Distracted Driver" feature kills cruise control AND actually distracts drivers constantly ... causing very unsafe driving conditions. Might have to get our dealership to buy back our brand new 2025 Santa Fe Limited (as MANY others have already done). The Distracted Driver feature actually distracts drivers constantly AND causes unsafe and hazardous driving conditions. Please ... please ... please strongly compel Hyundai to fix this A.S.A.P., by Hyundai issuing a patch to their system update that allows drivers to turn off/disable the hazardous "Distracted Driver" feature. Hyundai Community Posts: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |